The Non-Writing Life – Page 16

The Bashful Blogger Returns!

I’m back!! In more ways than one.

It’s been a month since I announced my break from blogging. I bet some of you thought I couldn’t do it. You doubted my will. You counted on my addiction. Sure, it’s one thing to give up blogging for a month, but could Cindy really give up Facebook, email, and Twitter? Yes, she can and she did. But there’s a knack to it.

I didn’t check Facebook, Twitter or my email AT ALL for a little over three weeks. But I had help. Yes, I cheated. You see, I didn’t write one word of my WIP during my Tech Break, either. No, I took myself away from temptation altogether. I went to Peru.

Not fair, you cry! Why not announce that I’m going on holiday? Well, number one, I didn’t want to become a victim of one of those websites that lists people who announce on Facebook and/or blogs that their houses are empty for a set number of days or weeks. To be honest, I didn’t really have to worry about that part because, between my two sons and their girlfriends, I had at least 1-4 people staying here at all times. Yes, Allie McBeagle missed me, I heard, but she quickly glommed onto E.S.’s girlfriend. I’ve been back home for a week now, and routines are slowly getting back to normal. I’m hoping to return to the WIP this week, but I’m still in holiday mode, and if it takes me another week to get my creative motor running, so be it. I’m busy catching up on family and business-related (non-writing) activities and responsibilities.

Why did I go to Peru? Well, I didn’t go alone. I took the dh with me. We’re celebrating a major anniversary in August, and this trip was our celebration. Three weeks. Our travels took us from Canada–>Lima–>Nasca–>Lima->Huancayo–>Cusco–>The Sacred Valley–>Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu–>Cusco–>Puno and Lake Titicaca–>and then finally home. We rode four planes in 24 hours from Puno to make it back.

Okay, confession time. I didn’t check my email AT ALL. I didn’t even type Facebook into a browser, but my dh is a bit of a different story, and I took advantage of his weaknesses to check in on the family through his GMail account. His Blackberry stopped working once we left the States (so much for taking it for emergency reasons). But nearly every hotel or B&B we stayed in had Internet access/business centers, and one of our kids was going through a university residence dilemma that of course cropped up two days before we left. We HAD to check in, because it’s a health issue. That’s my excuse. Also, the dh is addicted to email. I swear, sometimes he checked his GMail twice in one day!!! But I, I, who was afeared to check her email in case an editor had sent me something that HAD TO BE WORKED ON RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, abstained.

Aren’t you proud of me?

I returned home to find one email from an editor. I won’t announce what it said yet, because we’re still in the Cindy’s Asking Questions Again stage. I do have some other writing news, but this post has gone on long enough. Return later in the week to find out my second good piece of writing news.

Both My Liege and I took a ton of pictures and we’re in the process of narrowing down Those That Befit the Photo Albums. I’ve decided to relate our trip through blog posts and will start doing so later this week. So you’ll find lots of Peru piccies, travel advice, and anecdotes, in the next several weeks.

My last piece of news is that I became a great-aunt for the fourth time on May 14th! A day before we left on our trip. Thank you to our niece for ensuring we got to gaze upon our new great-nephew while he was a newborn.

Now…the laundry awaits! What have you been up to while I’ve been gone?

For Bikers Who Golf!

Yes, I’m still on a tech break. It would be pretty pathetic if I stopped blogging for only two days, no? One might think I’m addicted. While I’m breaking, I thought I might as well commandeer the blog for some free advertising for my husband’s new business (he’s the one without the beard-goatee thingie). For more information, pop by www.ironhorsecaddybag.com or visit on Facebook. Happy viewing!

Left-Brain Brain Drain

@&^*^@%@$@!%@!))&%#$#$

That’s what’s left of my brain.

I didn’t write or revise one word yesterday. Not one word of my work-in-progress, at any rate. Business letters? Yep, drafted and edited those. Sold stocks on-line. Paid complex bill. Examined very confusing credit card company statements for my dh’s business. Tried to prepare a year-end for another, thankfully simpler business (record keeping only, not the bookkeeping, thank God—I hire out Little Pisser for that) for the accountant. Of course I ran into roadblocks. Of course! Why? Because I can deal with numbers. I do taxes for myself, my dh, and both of our kids. I still do taxes by hand, not using software, because I’m convinced the evil software will try to trick me. That I won’t make as many mistakes filling out the forms by hand.

Where was I? Oh, yes. I can deal with numbers, but I DON’T REMEMBER numbers. My brain doesn’t like numbers. My brain likes letters. When I woke up from my one and only surgery thirteen years ago (not counting my C-sections, because I was awake for them), what looked like pages and pages and pages and pages of words were flipping in front of my eyes. I tried to catch what they said (might have been the secrets to the universe), but no luck. Unfortunately, everything I did yesterday, and in fact everything I did over the weekend, required my brain to remember numbers. So I wouldn’t have to GO OVER SOMETHING FOR THE EIGHTEENTH TIME. Or phone Little Pisser while she’s very sick and ask her to repeat something to me about numbers that she told me in the fall. Something I wrote down in WORD FORM so I would remember it. But then some crafty little devil took over and scratched out some of my words and wrote down numbers in their place. Different numbers! I know by the handwriting that the crafty little devil was me. But I do not know why I changed the numbers.

Thanks to Little Pisser, that particular task is back on track.

The year-end would be ready for the accountant except I realized at the last minute that I was missing one document that, in over a dozen years, would have reached me in the mail by now. So…year-end postponed until next week, when I’ve been assured the document will arrive.

All family taxes are done (and a check written to the Receiver General in one case :::sob:::) with the exception of Eldest Son’s. For some reason, he didn’t receive an information slip when he should have (weeks ago). Early last week, I called the Lady in Charge of Such Things, and she told me The Company in Charge of The Information Slip said they had already mailed out the slip. Tough toodles, because I don’t have it. “Not to worry,” LICOST told me. “They just sent out another. I was hoping you’d got it already. Keep an eye on the mail, because it will get there any day.” That was, oh, several days ago. The slip has not graced our mailbox. And taxes are due April 30th.

I’m giving it until Monday and then LICOST will have to call TCICOTIS for me and get the information to fill into the appropriate spots on the income tax form.

Mercury Retrograde, anyone?

Well. I’m glad yesterday is over. I set out to accomplish all the number-oriented tasks in one day, and, by gum, I nearly met my goal! Accomplishing all such tasks in one day is very important to me, because I find it incredibly difficult to devote the morning to numbers and then the afternoon to words. And if I start the morning with words, sorry, numbers, you ain’t getting my attention at all that day. Because I know once I start doing number stuff, that messes up my word brain and then there goes any writing at all.

Can you write for part of the day and do :::shudder::: number stuff in the other part? Little Pisser tells me she has no problem doing number stuff in the morning and then gardening in the afternoon. But gardening doesn’t involve spelling, and she’s a bookkeeper, so…

I am deficient. Not morally, just numerically. How about you?

Evil Landlady Faces Sentencing

Evil Landlady, who tried to take my son for his apartment damage deposit back in September with the story that his room was damaged in a fire, will be charged today on multiple counts of fraud. This newspaper story says that “one” person got their deposit back. I don’t know if this is my kid or not, because I can’t remember if he reported his incident to the police. Also, I know he helped one other student get his deposit back, too.

I can’t believe so many people let her get away with it. It didn’t occur to us to allow that to happen. That his deposit was “only” $225 and not the bigger numbers other students got caught with wasn’t the point. Her dishonesty was.

She’ll have to pay back all the deposits.

Kudos to all the fraudees—most of them university students—who had the gonads to report her to the police.

I hope she gets some help.

Here’s another story about the most recent scammees. They did their due diligence and STILL they got scammed. From the paper:

Durning said he’s not sure whether the alleged victims could have done more to protect themselves in this case, as everything seemed to be legitimate. Roy is accused of allowing people to view the place, signing tenancy agreements and giving receipts for cash deposits. She lived in the suite above.

Watch your kids’ backs, everyone!

Mammogram PSA

I’m having my annual mammogram this week. It’s not something I look forward to, but it’s an exercise I commit to without fail. Really, in Canada, there’s no reason not to. Annual mammograms are free for women forty and over. At least they are in my province. I believe they are across the board, but I shouldn’t speak to that when I haven’t looked into it.

I don’t know what the situation is in the States, but it boggles my mind that several provinces in my country (if not all the provinces) offer free annual mammograms to women over forty, and yet so many women continue not to take advantage of this service. I’ve offered to accompany friends who still refuse to go. No, your boobs aren’t too small. Yes, it can hurt if you have glandular breasts or schedule your mammogram for the wrong time of month (going in mid-cycle is best). Yes, the first time is embarrassing. Okay, every time is embarrassing. Just like pap smears are embarrassing. But the embarrassment lessens each time you have it done. Breasts are like teeth. To a mammogram technologist. Compared to a dentist. Think of it like that.

Now, go forth and have your boobs squished. Thank me later.